By Emily Burnie
Eeyore is a 6 year old, male (neutered) domestic shorthair cat that had horrible teeth, but was hiding it very well! His owner booked an appointment because she noticed his breath was getting worse and she was concerned about his teeth, but she reported he was eating and drinking the same as always and was showing no signs of pain.
By what Dr. Sherlock could see during her exam, she knew he needed dental surgery ASAP, but things where even worse than we expected! Poor Eeyore has some teeth that where barley hanging by a thread, some that where abscessed and some that had feline cavities (Resorptive Lesions).
He must have been in pain, but was not willing to show it. A veterinary dentist once told me “the alternative to not eating is dying” – meaning an animal’s instinct will make them eat, even when it hurts, because otherwise they will starve. They don’t know that if they show us the pain, we can fix it!
We ended up removing 9 of Eeyore’s biggest teeth (cats have 18 “big teeth” and 12 incisors) and cleaning up what was left, so although he only has a few good chewing teeth left, what he has should be good for a few more years!